Another Host First Saga
by Xillmehtc1418
Summary: 12 years ago, a ninetailed demon ravaged Konohagakure. The brave Fourth Hokage gave his life to kill the demon and seal his soul into a newborn... Sasuke Uchiha. R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

Another Host

Prelude: The Fourth Hokage's Decision

The Fourth Hokage, a tall, lean man with sky-blue eyes and spiky yellow hair, looked around his roomy office and tapped his finger impatiently on his desk. He sighed and twiddled his thumbs aimlessly out of sheer boredom. He then got up and paced around his room as he had done hundreds of times tonight.

His ears perked up as he saw a leaf… no, two leaves, that appeared out of nowhere. There were more leaves, and more joined these leaves, until the entire room was filled with blowing leaves. The Fourth Hokage looked around. Was this a kidnap attempt? If so, the perpetrator had found the perfect cruel irony. Being kidnapped by the symbol of his village was humbling, to be sure.

His fear dissolved when he saw who was in the center of the blowing leaves. It was his former student, Hatake Kakashi.

"So, uh, like it?" Kakashi smirked (or what could be identified as a smirk, given that he wore a mask covering the lower half of his face).

The Fourth Hokage was livid. " You could have given me a heart attack! I thought that was a kidnapping or an assassination!"

Kakashi looked down ashamedly and shrugged. Then he straightened up and saluted the Hokage. "So, uh… I have news about the Kyubi."

The Fourth Hokage's ears perked up at this, and he fixated his gaze on Kakashi. "Well, what is it? Did Uzumaki get born on time?"

"Yes, he was on schedule. His mother is still very weak, and I feel a justu like the Reaper Death Seal will kill her outright."

The Fourth Hokage sighed. "Is there any more bad news?"

Kakashi paused for a while. " There was an inexplicable avalanche in the Snow Country. The Kyubi was in the middle of it, and he'll be delayed for a week or more. Uzumaki's cord will have healed."

The Fourth Hokage's eyes went wide and he pounded the desk. "Damnit! Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Uh, yes. If he is born on time, there is one else."

"Well, who is it?"

"This could be a problem. He has more family than just a mother. His name is Uchiha Sasuke."

Kakashi regretted giving the news to the Uchiha clan, even if he had volunteered. It was a very hard decision for almost any family to make. Not the Uchihas, tough. They had all agreed it was for the good of the village. Now Kakashi waited outside the door, waiting for the Fourth Hokage to use the fatal jutsu.

The Fourth Hokage's blood-crusted eyes struggled to make out what was going on, but he knew what he was doing regardless. He had practiced this justu enough times. He knew that it was succeeding as the crying baby slowly began to show a mark on his stomach and The Fourth Hokage felt his life slipping away…

-----

All right, information. This stays mostly true to the American manga printed in Shonen Jump. Last names come first, and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox is referred to as the Kyubi. Anyway, read and review! I'll update as frequently as I can, but I'll still have about two-week gaps between chapters. Good-bye for now, and I hope you enjoy it!


	2. Chapter 2

All right, I must thank my fans (or, fan) for the great reviews (all right, review). I love people who give me good reviews, so at the beginning of every chapter, I honor everyone who enjoys this story (and has an account). My personal thanks to UchihaHinata2210. Keep 'em coming, people!

Another Host

Chapter One: The Demon Link

Uchiha Sasuke once again looked at the mass of people and saw exactly what he expected. People were whispering and pointing in his direction. He once again ignored them. What did they matter? They were just people who were of no importance. He had a greater goal.

Sasuke was a tall, pale boy, with spiky, black hair. He wore a blue shirt, with the Uchiha paper fan symbol on the back, and white shorts. He also had a leaf headband, with the familiar spiral symbol on it. The most striking thing about his face was the six whisker marks on his face. No one had ever explained it, because no one wanted to talk to him. He couldn't have asked his family. They were all dead, except Itachi. The name bought a foul taste to his mouth. He whispered it with distaste.

"Itachi."

Uchiha Itachi. The one he wanted to kill. He looked at his hands. The same hands that Sasuke knew would soon be stained with Itachi's blood.

He stopped at the Ichiraku Noodle Shop. It wasn't his favorite place to be, but he was hungry. He looked at the other customers and noted one with mild distaste.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto was relatively well liked, but not the most popular. That was Ino. He was on Kurenai Yuhi's Team 8, with Inuzuka Kiba and Yamanaka Ino. Sasuke was paired on Team 10, with Master Asuma, and his teammates, Hinata Hyuga and Akimichi Choji.

Naruto wore an orange jumpsuit and had spiky hair. People told him that he looked just like the Fourth Hokage, something he liked very much. He greedily slurped up the ramen. Sasuke knew Naruto was a regular here. It still wasn't very good to see him.

Sasuke detested him.

Things always seemed to go Naruto's way. He got good ninja grades, was popular with many people, as he had Rock Lee and Kiba among his personal friends, and passed the exam without any trouble at all. He had an incredible aptitude for ninjutsu. He was also was very clever and very strategic in battles, a trait that rubbed off from Shikamaru.

Sasuke finished his ramen quickly and left. He had to rest. Tomorrow was his first ninja meet.

This chapter was mainly for background information. As you can see, the teams are different. This is because Naruto has a different skill level than the normal series. Without the Kyubi inside of him, his grades didn't suck. Therefore, because teams are organized according to grades, it shifted the balance. Naruto is now pretty popular and has no whisker marks. Also, Sasuke still has good grades. He just uses Sharingan to copy other students. Because of the Kyubi's charka, Sasuke unlocked the Sharingan at age 8, and both his eyes are at level 3. I hope this isn't too long-winded. Keep the reviews coming!

I know I said my gaps were two weeks, and it's been one week, but I got an opportunity, and I grabbed it. That's why this chapter is (slightly) shorter.


	3. Chapter 3

It's true. I am SO paranoid about this story; I took one day to write a new story. I am seriously taking EVERY opportunity to update. The chapters might be shorter from now on. Better yet, I have 2 new reviews! Thank you to UchihaHinata2210 (again), who is becoming my favorite fan, and to g 52 goodman, for the constructive criticism. Since I know you want more of this story, let's launch into it!

Another Host

Chapter Two: Team 8

Sasuke strode up to the rooftop of the ninja academy. This was where he was supposed to meet Master Asuma, Hinata, and Choji. He found Asuma and Hinata on the very edge of the roof. Asuma was sitting on the rail. Hinata was twiddling her fingers. Sasuke walked up and admired the view. No one said a word.

No one said a word until Choji showed up, anyway. He had a sack of potato chips and was munching on them.

_Typical Choji_, thought Sasuke.

Asuma straightened up and exhaled.

"Well, this is the first meeting of Team 8. My name is Sarutobi Asuma. I'm your Jonin-sensei." He paused for breath. "We should get to know each other first. Good teamwork comes from friendship and familiarity." He looked around. "How about Choji."

Choji paused to finish a chip. "Well, I never really thought about it. I'm happy here, now. All I want to be when I become a ninja is to serve the Hokage well and eat a lot."

_Ugh_, Sasuke thought

Asuma looked around, deciding who to pick. "All right. Hinata?"

Hinata looked up, stuttered, looked away, and then looked up again. _She's so fidgety_, Sasuke observed.

"W-well, I-I was a-always c-called a f-failure…" Sasuke's ears perked up. Hinata didn't talk much. "I want t-to prove th-them wrong a-and… change. I want t-to change m-myself and make m-myself stronger. I-I want to b-be recognized b-by my c-clan." Hinata finished, then looked away quickly.

Sasuke's eyes glazed over. No one cared much about Hinata, but it was interesting to hear about her.

Asuma then pointed to him "Sasuke. What about you?"

Sasuke thought of something to say. "Well, my clan is dead. I want to kill the one that did it. To avenge my clan."

Asuma's eyes widened, and then went back to normal. "All right, then. We meet tomorrow in the training grounds. Dismissed."

Shorter chapter, but I wrote it in one hour, so I have a good excuse. Anyway, keep those good reviews coming! As I said, I'm in update-mania, so look for a new chapter soon! Maybe even tomorrow, but don't count on it so soon. See ya!


	4. Chapter 4

So, yeah. If you haven't noticed by now, I changed the name from Another Host to Another Host- First Saga. I did this because I plan to end this story right before the Chunin Exams. Don't worry; I'll still continue it after I do some other fan fictions that I plan to do. After those, I'll create Another Host- Second Saga, which ends when the destruction of Konoha fails. Also, sadly, I recently found out that there is a rule forbidding thanks to reviewers in the subsequent story. If this rule was deleted or still in effect, let me know, because I'm still not sure about it. Also, stay tuned after the story for some other stories I plan to do!

Another Host

Part Four

Chapter Three: Master Asuma's Test

The grass crunched under Sasuke's sandals. The wind blew Sasuke's hair across his face, obscuring his vision. Choji's bag crunched and crinkled…

Choji?!

Sasuke and Hinata whirled around. Sasuke smirked and thought, _I guess it's impossible for Choji to make a quiet entrance, he's always eating. One day he's going to give away our cover on a mission and get us all killed. _Sasuke glanced at Hinata. The two had just struck up a friendly conversation. Hinata was actually more than just a shy girl who always stuttered.

Master Asuma exhaled deeply and flicked another cigarette to the ground. "Well," he started, "now that everyone's here, let me explain the test." He lit another cigarette. "It's simple, really. A test of tracking. You must find a scroll and deliver it to me." He blew out smoke. "It's in the forest. Actually, not yet," he said he held up a scroll. "It's right here. Give me ten minutes to hide this, and then go find it and give it to me, within forty minutes." He started walking to the forest. "This will help you in your tracking skills, and prepare you for a similar test in the Chunin Exams. Ready?" He crouched low. "Give me ten minutes." Asuma suddenly disappeared. He had jumped up in a way that he looked as if he had simply vanished, Sasuke knew. But he didn't tell that to Choji. He enjoyed the dumbfounded expression on his face too much.

Asuma appeared eight minutes later. "You may begin on my mark." He said without any introductions or formalities.

Sasuke prepared himself. He tightened his headband, checked his kunai and shuriken holsters, and stretched out his muscles. He had worn a black shirt and long pants, instead of his usual shorts, for this occasion. It kept him warm. He stood up straight and observed Hinata and Choji doing the same, although Choji had trouble with stretches.

"Now!"

Sasuke immediately charged and ran into the forest.

So, I planned to make this chapter longer, but I need to go somewhere and this is all

I can make on short notice. Sorry it ended so abruptly. But, you probably want to see the upcoming stories I promised you.

_Iblis Fire _- A Sonic the Hedgehog story. I thought this up before the

Sonic the Hedgehog 360/PS3 game came out. I've already got the first chapter written, but not submitted.

_Ninja Scrolls – _Another Naruto story, this time set in the real canon, after the Destruction of Konoha and before the Search for Tsunade.

Legends of the Keyblade- A Kingdom Hearts story, after Kingdom Hearts II. I've got a rough draft, but I'm not about to submit it. 

So, as you see, I'm in for the long haul as a submitter… member… writer… whatever!


	5. Chapter 5

Another Host- First Saga

Another Host- First Saga

Chapter 4

I have not updated this story in MONTHS. I finally decided to update when I saw all the positive reviews! Thanks a lot, guys, your comments mean a whole lot to me.

--

Sasuke leapt through the trees with fox-like speed. His hair was ruffled by the wind, but he was bothered more by the branches that smacked his face.

He finally stopped to rest on a safe-looking branch. Forty minutes… that's what Master Asuma had said. The Forest of Death was huge. How was he supposed to find a single scroll in forty minutes?

"Sasuke!"

What?

"Wait up!"

Sasuke looked behind him. There was Hinata and Choji.

Oh. Guess he must have forgotten them.

Hinata landed on a branch adjacent to Sasuke's. She gave a pout-ish frown. "Just because you're one of the best students in the class doesn't mean you can go off without us."

Sasuke sighed. "I'm sorry, all right?"

Choji snorted. "Next time, don't get caught up in the moment."

Sasuke ignored the comment. "Hinata, you have a Byakugan eye, right?"

Hinata raised her eyebrows. "Um, yes…"

"Can you locate a scroll anywhere close?"

Hinata got an expression of understanding on her face. She turned away from him. Sasuke briefly felt a surge of power, before Hinata looked all around. She furrowed her brow, then slowly shook her head and terminated the Byakugan.

"Wherever it is, it's not very close."

Sasuke got up. "Okay. We'll just have to do some scouting. Hinata, keep surveying the land while we move. Choji, try to keep up."

Choji threw his potato chip bag at Sasuke.

--

Moving with reasonable speed, the group was able to cover a large amount of ground in a short time. Hinata, however, had still not located anything. It didn't help that it was relatively undeveloped, and she couldn't keep it up very long.

Sasuke inwardly sighed. His own Sharingan eye was powerful in its own right, but for some reason was incredibly unstable. It kept developing a strange red chakra that was not his own—he knew for a fact his chakra was orange.

They stopped to rest. "How much time do we have left?" asked Sasuke.

Choji looked at the sun, tilted his head, and then looked down. "It's been about fifteen minutes."

Sasuke sighed. "So, what do we do?"

Choji punched the tree in frustration.

The wood rotted under his fist.

Somehow, they found themselves falling.

_How did this happen?_

Of course, it was Choji's fault. He had punched the wood, which made the branch they were sitting on unstable, and unable to hold their weight. So it had collapsed.

Typical.

Sasuke quickly grabbed a branch and steadied himself on it. He looked down. Fortunately, Hinata and Choji had done the same thing.

"Is everyone all right?"

He saw them nodding yes.

"All right."

Pondering how to get himself out of the situation, Sasuke looked up. Something suddenly caught his eye.

It was the white paper of a scroll.

--

"Choji, this might have been the best thing you have ever done."

"Thanks!... Wait…."

Sasuke smirked. It was so easy to get Choji to look like an idiot.

They were headed back to the site of the test. Their goal was in sight. All they had to do was get the scroll to Master Asuma.

And then he'd be a real ninja.

--

Once again, thank you to all who submitted a review! I really couldn't have gotten myself motivated to do this without you.


	6. Chapter 6

Another Host- First Saga

Another Host- First Saga

Part 6

Sasuke slowly lifted the ramen noodles to his mouth. His thoughts drifted to earlier in the day.

Today, he had finally passed the test, and become a genin. Master Asuma had been extremely pleased that they had found the scroll so quickly. Sasuke felt grateful that none of his teammates had pointed out that it was an accident.

Asuma had also set the time of their first meeting, which was the day after tomorrow.

"What with the Academy test and now this," he had said, "You deserve some time off. So relax tomorrow. After that, we start our first ninja missions."

Sasuke liked Master Asuma. He was fair and knew how far to push them so that they could improve without giving up.

"There is one more task I have for you to do today, however."

Sasuke listened.

"You need to feel closer to your teammates. You'll be doing missions with them and much more, so you can't be unfriendly with each other."

Bond? With his teammates? Hinata seemed okay, but he didn't want to say a syllable more than he had to with Choji.

"So I'm taking you all out for ramen."

Oh. That didn't seem so bad.

So that was how he found himself here, between Hinata and Master Asuma. So far he had done exactly no bonding.

Master Asuma noticed this. "Come on, team. If you don't at least get a conversation started, I'm making all of you pay for the ramen."

This got Choji's interest, as he had had five bowls so far. Sasuke smirked as Choji sputtered around for something to start a conversation about.

Sasuke decided he might as well say something. "Choji, why do you eat so much anyway?"

Choji looked at Sasuke, half grateful for talking about something, half offended for being asked such a question.

"Um… cholesterol helps chakra."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? I've never heard of that."

Choji smiled. "It's a family secret." He regarded Sasuke with a knowing eye. "But I don't think you're the kind to suddenly want to stuff yourself because you learned that."

Sasuke smiled. "No, I'm not. I'd rather gain chakra on my own power."

Choji shrugged. "Nothing wrong with that."

Asuma had seen this conversation and smiled. "Well, it seems that you and Choji have something to talk about," he said. "I'll leave you to it."

Was his assignment over? It seemed so. But he hadn't done any bonding with Hinata. She was just there in her corner…

But she wasn't.

"Hinata?"

Great. She was gone.

"Hey, Sasuke!"

Sasuke turned around. It was Naruto.

"What's up, Sasuke? Did you pass the exam? How was it?"

Sasuke sighed. Naruto had a habit of asking too many questions. Not that Sasuke blamed him for being curious, but he could have at least held off and asked one question at a time. He had tried to tell Naruto this many times before, but Naruto never got it.

"I'm eating, I passed, and it wasn't too bad."

Naruto tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

Sasuke was at least grateful that Naruto hadn't bragged about what he had done. "Hinata just disappeared, and I have to find her."

Naruto smirked. "Why are you so… concerned for her?"

Sasuke, unfortunately, got the hidden meaning. "Shut up. She's just my teammate, and I'm worried about what might happen to her."

Naruto gave another insufferable smirk. "Fine. Go get 'er, loverboy."

Not stopping to give Naruto a well-deserved "shut up", Sasuke disappeared.

Where was Hinata? Was she safe? In a village full of ninja, she might not be.

Sasuke stopped himself. _Why do I care?_, he thought. _Hinata's a ninja. She's not helpless. She can take care of herself._

Was what Naruto said really true? _Stop it. She's your teammate, that's all. Teammates look out for each other._

Most importantly, why was he spending so much time thinking about it? If he really didn't care, would he have analyzed his inner thoughts this much? Was he trying to deny something?

And there he went again, analyzing thoughts of analyzing. He decided to just forget it and look for Hinata.

He found Hinata two minutes later. She was running through the streets to the Hyuga manor.

He caught up and yelled "Hinata!"

Hinata turned around. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke got close to Hinata. "What'd you ditch us for like that?"

Hinata slumped her shoulders, unsure of what to say. She then started stammering. None of which was intelligible, but Sasuke decided to hazard a guess.

"You're nervous around other people?"

Hinata looked shocked, then slumped her shoulders again, then slowly, shakily nodded.

Sasuke sighed. He didn't quite know what to say. He had never consoled a person for being nervous before.

He decided to give it his best shot.

"Hinata, it's okay. You haven't got anything to be embarrassed about."

This aroused Hinata's interest. He continued.

"You're very smart, have good ninja skills, you work great with a team, you're generous and kind…"

There was only one more thing Sasuke could say, and it would embarrass him to no end to say it. But he had to. He needed something to end with, and there was nothing else.

"…and you're very pretty."

Which, of course, made Hinata stop and look at him. This was Hinata's equivalent of gasping and stepping back. She finally got up the courage to talk.

"D…do you really think so, Sasuke?"

"Of course." He meant it, too. Hinata was pretty. But he wasn't interested in her. He tried to get that across as clearly as possible.

"You haven't got anything to be embarrassed of. Get over being so shy. Talk a little. People would appreciate you more if you did."

It was the closest thing Sasuke could give to a heartwarming speech, but it seemed to have the desired effect on Hinata. She stopped twitching, at least.

She gave him a look that spewed gratefulness, and finally said simply, "T-thank you, Sasuke."

Sasuke smiled. "It's all right. That's what friends do."

Hinata looked unsure for a second, and then finally broke out into a smile. "Right, of course!" She held the smile for a moment, and then continued. "But it's getting late. I think I should go."

Sasuke was fixated on her smile. It was beautiful! Why didn't she smile more? Had he fixed that problem?

He realized she was waiting for him to reply. "Oh, okay. See ya."

She smiled that gorgeous smile of hers again and said "See you tomorrow!"

As Sasuke walked away, he had a hard time deciding whether he was more amazed by the smile or the fact that she had gone a full ten seconds without stammering.

Heh, heh… I'm not done with this series yet! I tried separating it with three asterisks, but my previous separators have not worked, so you might be reading this and think this is just another paragraph in the story. I'll level with you: It's not.

I planned to have this up earlier, but the amount of time it took me to write it was longer than expected. Probably due to the many requests for longer chapters. I'm trying my best to address the issue, but sometimes I just can't drag a lot out of a little. Granted, the story is a little longer this time, but it still didn't meet my goal.

P.S.: I stared a new fanfic! It's called Kingdom Hearts: Darkness and Light. So far it has two chapters up. The writing is a little more… sporadic, I think, but I still like it.


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